Rwanda's music industry is growing at a fast pace, thanks to among others, music producers who create beats and melodies that are making the world listen. The young producers are not only shaping the local music scene but have also gained international acclaim, contributing to the global recognition of Rwandan music. From hip-hop producers to zouk and R&B beat makers, The New Times highlights some of the music producers who shone in 2023 based on the hits they produced, production touch, awards, and nominations, among others. ALSO READ: Rwandan music producers to watch in 2023 Prince Kiiz The tag 'KIIZ' or 'Prince' is now familiar to many music lovers and artistes in the country, and is one of the tags that appeared in many of the hits produced in 2023. The famous tag belongs to one of the promising music producers, Moïse Irabusa, popularly known as Prince Kiiz, who is one of the new producers signed under Country Records and a graduate of former Nyundo School of Arts and Music. The youngster has produced nothing but bangers this year and is credited with spurring the return of Danny Nanone by producing two of his comeback hits; ‘My Type’ and ‘Confirm’. Kiiz's breakthrough song was Alyn Sano's 'Fake Gee' which was released in May 2022 and saw him secure a deal with 1:55AM of Coach Gael where he produced Bruce Melodie's 'Funga Macho' among many others. He is also the brains behind Bwiza's 'Do Me', Juno Kizigenza's 'Zezenge' and Chris Eazy's 'Lala' among others. Element There should be no doubt that Element of 1:55AM is arguably the biggest Rwandan producer alive and his past projects just prove it. The youngster started 2023 trending after parting ways with Country Records- which groomed him- and joined 1:55AM, a transfer described by many as the best move in Rwanda's music industry this year. After signing with a new label, Element also released his second single ‘Fou De Toi’, one of the biggest hits produced this year. He is also behind bangers like 'Bana' and 'Munda', which are currently the most trending Rwandan songs on all major streaming platforms. Muriro Another big new name in the industry, Muriro, has produced back-to-back smash hits in 2023 and is showing signs of becoming even bigger next year. The young producer signed to Jivah Records has produced a number of hits including 'Shayo' by Ariel Wayz, ‘Captain’ by Kivumbi King featuring A Pass, and ‘Up Up’ by Bruce the 1st. Muriro is also a recording artist and recently released his first single titled 'Ntawe'. X on the Beat After the premiere of Ruti Joel's debut album 'Musomdera', many music lovers wanted to know the man behind such a masterpiece and the name is X on The Beat. Signed to Hi5 Entertainment, X on the beat shares an interesting chemistry with many Rwandan musicians, especially Joel Ruti, whom he produced all 10 tracks of his debut album. He started to gain momentum in 2022 after producing 'Radiyo', Alyn Sano's hit that made the rounds in the Rwandan music industry and contributed to the artist's comeback. He also produced some of the tracks on Alyn Sano's latest album. He produced popular tracks like 'Musomandera', 'Cunda', 'Nyambo,' and others. Kozze After Element left Country Records, the studio was not deterred as Kozze took over before more capable producers came on board. Kozze, real name Jean Pierre Irakoze, was the second producer to join the studio after Element and the young producer has been producing magic ever since. The producer, who graduated from the former Nyundo School of Arts and Music, is behind influential 2023 hits such as Kevin Kade's 'Pyramid', Juno Kizigenza's 'La Vie' and 'My Wife', Okkama's 'Mesaje' and Kevin Kade's 'Amayoga,' among many others.
